20 Jun 2019

The Elf's Prisoner - Commentary 33

Communications helps heal rifts, in The Elf's Prisoner Chapter 33.

And I'm back!  Last week got hectic, but I was still creative, thus the filk song last Friday.  Take note of it.  I rarely write poetry of any kind, even filk.  This is a once in a lifetime event.  Even my high school English teachers never saw poetry from me for assignments.  And, yes, Ottawa drivers are just that bad.

Anyway, back to The Elf's Prisoner.  Again, the story is incomplete and we're on the final countdown to the end of what was written.  It's not like The Soul Blade or The Devil You Know with just a few chapter left.  The Elf's Prisoner sprawled with the scope of the story.  I'll work out a summary of what I want to do with the rest of the story once we reach the end of the written part.

One of the biggest problems in many plots is that they can be wrapped up if people would just talk to each other.  Clear up misunderstandings by saying, "Hey, that's not what was supposed to happen.  Sorry about that."  Wacky hijinks aside, just have the concerned parties talk.  Nyssa and Kazi are using diplomacy to head off a possible war.  They have information that the Niceans don't.  Now, they don't know what the Niceans will do with the information, but the goal is to keep them from going after an innocent third party, in this case, the Sundered Chasm.

To help their cause, both Nyssa and Kazi are going in with full regalia, polished until light bounces off their outfits.  They are dressed to impress.  The Niceans aren't dealing with low-level flunkies.  Nyssa even gives Kazi a title to be more impressive.  Nyssa is also showing off her heraldry.  Nothing is being left to chance.

Lie detection spells are tricky things.  They don't discern if a statement is true or false; that would be beyond the power of the spell.  Instead, the spell detects if the subject is lying.  If a subject believes what he or she is saying, no matter how bizarre it is, the spell does not register a lie.  If Nyssa believes that Kazi's title is Chaplain, even if it isn't, then the spell will not register a lie.  Likewise, Kazi saying that they have an expert on the Accursed elves with them is the truth, without revealing that their expert is one herself.

I wound up creating a lot of Nicean culture for this scene.  How the society is shaped, who is in charge, how they deal with foreigners, all solidified for this chapter.  Ambassadors are called Ministers.  Society puts wizards, or their Nicean equivalent, in charge.  Security to get to see an ambassador is strict, too.  The dwarves don't want any messy situations from beyond the Mountain to get inside.  They don't care too much about what happens in Silver Trailings as long as it stays outside.  World building on the fly can be fun, but there's implications happening that I will have to deal with later.

Friday, a small family reunion, in The Elf's Prisoner Chapter 34.
Also Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, "Machinama and Fan Adaptations".
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, hiatus week.

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